My invention affords a superior degree of convenience and error-resistant operation of an ordinary remote control by ordinary users. It is not unusual for user's to experience difficulty and confusion while trying to use the type of remote control ubiquitously included with virtually every television receiver, cable box or satellite receiver. The main problem encountered by ordinary mortals who attempt using the typical remote control is the understanding of which button to push without “looking at” the keypad. More central to the problem is the necessity for maintaining an “aiming” of the remote control “at the to-be-controlled” apparatus. In other words, to change channels from (for example) channel 41 to channel 301 requires the entry of three keypunches, 3 plus 0 plus 1, in that order and quickly, lest the device time-out and the user has to start all over again. Convenient, error free remote control usage is further confounded by the smallness of a typical modern remote controller's layout. While it is true that there are special editions of remote controls available, these devices usually sacrifice some if not many of the functions found on the OEM remote control. Therefore, they are not necessarily useful for every situation.
In another U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,239 I teach a solution to a similar scenario. As my '239 patent says: “Individual keybutton entries are temporarily stored until the entry sequence is complete.” It continues with: “When the entry sequence is completed the remote controller is then aimed at a remoteely controlled television set . . . ” and further says: “The user initiates a SEND command and the stored entries are retrieved and transmitted from the remote controller device to the receptor of the remotely controlled device as a packet of data which acts to change channel selection or accomplish other tasks in the remotely controlled device.” In other words, the user enters the necessary command steps while conveniently viewing the keypad and once all the entries are submitted, the user presses a single key which translates the command data as a composite packet of instructions to the remotely controlled device.
Later, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,874 I also show how the sequence of entries may be stored, converted into an alternate command option sent as a composite packet of command data to the remotely controlled device.
More recently in U.S. Pat. No. 7,057,673 I show the entry of a network acronym into the pseudo-alpha-numerical keypad (similar to that used with a telephone) that converts the acronym into an appropriate channel number (or other command) before being sent as a composite data packet by actuation of a single SEND key command.